What Is The Cringiest "Not Like Other Girls" Moment From A Movie Or TV Show That Still Bothers You?
Jenna Ortega has been praised recently for actively changing lines — or omitting them altogether — while filming Wednesday to "make [the character] sound human." And one of those lines revealed that Wednesday was definitely originally written with way more "pick me" tendencies — a concept where a woman rejects stereotypical femininity in an attempt to be "just one of the guys."
Movies and TV shows that have characters with "not like others girls" behavior — without calling out the character or challenging the trope (a la Gone Girl) — can, in some cases, be harmful. By saying, "I'm not like those other girls," a character is essentially saying, "I'm better for not being feminine." The phrase is also used as a way to pit women against each other, often in the context of competing for a man's affection, which perpetuates unnecessary stereotypes.
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Note: A character can be weird or quirky without the need to put other women down. Also, a woman (or any gender) is, of course, allowed to reject femininity. It's when we, as a society, start demonizing femininity that it becomes a problem.
This concept is nothing new. Characters have been saying they're "not like other girls" for years. So I want to know the most shameless example you can think of from a movie or TV show.
It could be this moment from Mean Girls 2 where Jo, the main character, literally calls herself not "like most girls," which implies that all other girls are actually horrible people.
Or this scene from A Cinderella Story where Austin Ames, trying to figure out Sam's identity, insinuates that she's "not like other girls" simply because she'd rather eat a cheeseburger than a rice cake.
Or this moment from the first season of Scream Queens, where Grace thinks she's better than everyone else because she just wants a regular coffee.
